Gunmen murder veteran radio journalist in Mogadishu

New York, February 28, 2012--Unidentified gunmen today assassinated
a veteran journalist who had been trying to relaunch a radio station that extremist
group Al-Shabaab had shut down and looted in 2010, local journalists said.

Abukar Hassan Mohamoud, nicknamed Kadaf, the former director
of the private station Somaliweyn
Radio, was shot five times in the head and chest around 6 p.m. local time at
his home in Wadajir district in the capital Mogadishu, local journalists told
CPJ. The gunmen then fled the area. Hassan, 49, died from his injuries at
Medina Hospital soon after the attack.

Wadajir District Governor Ahmed Hassan said authorities were
determined to find the culprits, according to reports.
The reason for the attack is unknown.

"We offer our condolences to the family and colleagues of
Abukar Hassan Mohamoud and urge authorities to do their utmost to find the killers,"
said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes.

A former colleague of Hassan told CPJ that he had been
trying to relaunch Somaliweyn Radio, which was forcibly closed and
looted by Al-Shabaab
insurgents in May 2010. While the station was closed, Hassan had worked for
several civil society organizations and advocated for peace, according to local
journalists. Hassan is survived by his wife and four children.

CPJ has documented the killings of four journalists
in the capital in the past six months, including the former Shabelle Media
Network Director Hassan
Osman Abdi , who was shot to death in January. The killings have occurred
despite the fact that government and African Union troops managed to push Al-Shabaab
forces out of the capital last year.

Somalia is the most dangerous country in Africa to work as a
journalist, CPJ research shows.